Labor Day is Really All About American Exceptionalism

Other than punctuating the end of summer, Labor Day has for many lacked meaning associated with other holidays. Properly understood, it is the holiday that celebrates not only labor, but the job creators and entrepreneurs central to the flourishing of the United States and its people. Colonial America certainly benefited from the fact that early settlers were a self-selecting risk-takers willing to cross a dangerous ocean and start life over in the new world. Because they were tough, willing to sacrifice and bear risk, these settlers were predisposed to work hard and forgo immediate gratification. The Puritans not only prospered,...